Pallet with tray stacking structure

ABSTRACT

A pallet comprises a deck having an upper support surface; a plurality of support members depending from the deck; pallet stacking structure for retaining a second pallet stacked on the pallet, and tray retaining and stacking structure for retaining a tray on the pallet. The pallet stacking structure includes a plurality of first recessed regions formed in the upper support surface for receiving support members of a second pallet stacked on the first pallet. The tray retaining and stacking structure includes a plurality of second recessed regions formed in the upper support surface of the pallet for receiving the legs of a tray when the tray is supported on the pallet. The second recessed regions are formed within the outer boundaries of the first recessed regions and are deeper than the first recessed regions. The depths of the second recessed regions are slightly less than a length of the tray legs such that the bottoms of the tray legs touch the floors of the second recessed regions to transfer the weight of the trays downwardly through the tray legs and to the pallet rather than through the upper support surfaces of the tray.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This patent application is a continuation, and claims priority benefitwith regard to all common subject matter, of earlier-filed U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 14/570,039 filed on Dec. 15, 2014, and entitled“PALLET WITH TRAY STACKING STRUCTURE.” The earlier-filed patentapplication is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety into thepresent application.

BACKGROUND

Pallets are often used for supporting and moving various types ofarticles. Pallets may be constructed from many different materials,including wood, metal, fiberglass or plastic, and are typically designedto be loaded and moved by forklifts, hand trucks, cranes or otherspecialized handling or loading equipment.

Most pallets have a deck with an upper support surface and a number ofsupport members depending from the deck to elevate the deck and hencethe articles supported on its upper surface above the ground to preventmoisture, dirt and other debris from coming into contact with thesupported articles. When not in use, the pallets are often stacked toconserve floor space. Some pallets are therefore formed with palletstacking structure that supports and stabilizes multiple pallets whenstacked.

Pallets are often used to support trays that may be used to holdmiscellaneous small objects such as fruit. The trays typically have anupper support surface with a circumscribing outer lip or wall and anumber of legs that depend from the support surface to support the uppersupport surface above a pallet or other surface. The trays are typicallydesigned to be stacked on top of one another such that a number of thetrays may be supported on a single pallet. Unfortunately, when multipletrays are stacked on a pallet in this manner, the weight of the traysand the parts held in the trays can exert tremendous forces on the traysat the bottom of the stack and damage the trays. Such damage can beexacerbated by the pallet stacking structure described above because itoften interferes with the proper placement and alignment of the trays onthe pallet.

SUMMARY

The present invention solves the above-described problems and provides adistinct advance in the art of pallets by providing a pallet with bothpallet stacking structure and tray retaining and stacking structure. Thepallet stacking structure is integrated in the upper surface of thepallet deck and facilitates the stacking of multiple pallets when theyare not in use. The tray retaining and stacking structure is alsointegrated in the upper surface of the pallet deck and facilitates thestacking of multiple trays on the pallet. Importantly, the palletstacking structure and tray retaining and stacking structure arecooperatively designed and configured so as not to interfere with oneanother as described below.

A pallet constructed in accordance with one embodiment of the inventionmay be molded from plastic or other synthetic resin materials andbroadly comprises a deck; a plurality of support members; the palletstacking structure briefly described above; and the tray retaining andstacking structure briefly described above.

The deck has an upper support surface on which trays, other pallets, andother items may be supported. The support members, which may includerunners, legs, or feet, depend from the bottom of the deck for elevatingthe deck above the ground.

An embodiment of the pallet stacking structure includes a plurality offirst recessed regions formed in the upper support surface. The firstrecessed regions receive the support members of a second pallet stackedon the first pallet to “lock” adjacently stacked pallets together andprevent them from shifting laterally relative to one another.

An embodiment of the tray retaining and stacking structure includes aplurality of second recessed regions formed in the upper support surfaceof the pallet. The second recessed regions receive the legs of a traysupported on the pallet and prevent the tray, and any trays stacked ontop the tray, from shifting laterally relative to the pallet.

Importantly, the pallet stacking structure and tray retaining andstacking structure are cooperatively designed and configured so as notto interfere with one another. Specifically, the second recessed regionsof the tray retaining and stacking structure are formed within the outerboundaries of the first recessed regions of the pallet stackingstructure and are deeper than the first recessed regions. Thisfacilitates the alignment of trays on the pallet and reduces thelikelihood that the tray legs will seat within the recesses of thepallet stacking structure.

The tray retaining and stacking structure is also designed andconfigured to more effectively support the weight of multiple stackedtrays. Specifically, the depths of the second recessed regions areslightly less than the length of the tray legs so that the bottoms ofthe tray legs touch the floors of the second recessed regions andelevate the upper support surfaces of the trays slightly above thepallet. This transfers the weight of the trays, and the contents in thetrays, downwardly through the tray legs and to the pallet rather thanthrough the upper support surfaces of the trays. When multiple trays arestacked on top of one another, the weight of the trays is channeledlinearly downwardly through all the tray legs and to the upper surfaceof the pallet. This is advantageous because the tray legs are typicallythicker and stronger than the upper support surfaces of the tray and cantherefore more effectively support and transfer the weight of the trays.

This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in asimplified form that are further described in the detailed descriptionbelow. This summary is not intended to identify key features oressential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended tobe used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter. Other aspectsand advantages of the present invention will be apparent from thefollowing detailed description of the embodiments and the accompanyingdrawing figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES

Embodiments of the present invention are described in detail below withreference to the attached drawing figures, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a pallet constructed in accordance withan embodiment of the present invention and shown with a number of traysstacked thereon.

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the pallet and trays of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view of the pallet and traystaken along line 3-3 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a top plan sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 2 andshowing the upper support surface of the pallet and the feet of fourtrays supported on the pallet.

FIG. 5 is a top perspective view of an exemplary tray that may be placedon the pallet.

FIG. 6 is a bottom perspective view of the tray of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the pallet with three trays supportedthereon and a fourth tray shown removed from the pallet.

FIG. 8 is a top perspective view of the pallet without any trayssupported thereon.

FIG. 9 is a bottom perspective view of the pallet.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of three pallets in a stackedconfiguration.

FIG. 11 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view of the three structuredpallets taken along line 11-11 of FIG. 10.

The drawing figures do not limit the present invention to the specificembodiments disclosed and described herein. The drawings are notnecessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon clearlyillustrating the principles of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following detailed description of embodiments of the inventionreferences the accompanying drawings. The embodiments are intended todescribe aspects of the invention in sufficient detail to enable thoseskilled in the art to practice the invention. Other embodiments can beutilized and changes can be made without departing from the scope of theclaims. The following detailed description is, therefore, not to betaken in a limiting sense. The scope of the present invention is definedonly by the appended claims, along with the full scope of equivalents towhich such claims are entitled.

In this description, references to “one embodiment”, “an embodiment”, or“embodiments” mean that the feature or features being referred to areincluded in at least one embodiment of the technology. Separatereferences to “one embodiment”, “an embodiment”, or “embodiments” inthis description do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment and arealso not mutually exclusive unless so stated and/or except as will bereadily apparent to those skilled in the art from the description. Forexample, a feature, structure, act, etc. described in one embodiment mayalso be included in other embodiments, but is not necessarily included.Thus, the present technology can include a variety of combinationsand/or integrations of the embodiments described herein.

Referring now to the drawings, and initially to FIG. 1, a pallet 10constructed in accordance with an embodiment of the invention is shownsupporting a number of stacked trays 12. As described in more detailbelow, the pallet 10 is designed and configured such that forcesassociated with the weight of the trays, and any contents in the trays,are directed through the legs of the trays and to the upper supportsurface of the pallet. This allows the weight of the trays and theircontents to be supported by the tray legs, which are designed to supportsuch loads, rather than other parts of the trays, which are not designedto support heavy loads. The pallet is also configured to facilitatestacking with multiple other pallets when they are not in use.Importantly, the structure that facilitates the stacking of multiplepallets does not interfere with the structure that supports and retainsthe stacked trays, and vice versa, as described in more detail below.

An embodiment of the pallet 10 will now be described in more detail,primarily with reference to FIGS. 8 and 9. The pallet broadly comprisesa deck 14; a plurality of support members 16 depending from the deck;pallet stacking structure, specific portions of which are numbered anddescribed in detail below, for retaining a second pallet stacked on thepallet; and tray retaining and stacking structure, specific portions ofwhich are numbered and described in detail below, for supporting andretaining one or more trays on the pallet. The pallet 10 may be made ofany suitable materials and in one embodiment is rotationally molded fromplastic or other synthetic resin materials.

The deck 14 has an upper support surface 18 on which trays, otherpallets, and/or other items may be supported as shown in FIGS. 1 and 10.The upper support surface 18 has a central, generally planar surface 20and a number of recessed regions and projections that are described inmore detail below. In one embodiment, the deck 14 is generallyrectangular and approximately 47″ long, 36″ wide, and 2 ½″ thick, but itmay be formed in any shape and size without departing from the scope ofthe invention.

As shown in FIG. 9, the underside of the deck 14 may include a number ofmolded handles 23 for use in handling the pallet 10 and a number ofdimples 25 that provide structural support and reduce the weight of thepallet. The deck 14 may include other features not relevant to thepresent invention.

The support members depend 16 from the bottom of the deck 14 to elevatethe deck and hence the trays or other articles supported on its uppersurface 18 above the ground to prevent moisture, dirt and other debrisfrom coming into contact with the supported articles. In one embodiment,the support members 16 consist of two runners 22, 24, positioned belowopposite ends of the deck, and three center leg supports or feet 26, 28,30 positioned below a center line of the pallet.

The runners 22, 24 each include three spaced-apart legs 32A, 32B, 32C,the bottoms of which are interconnected by a strap 34. The legs andstrap of each runner cooperatively define two channels 36, also known ascores, extending through the runner. The cores 36 of the two runners arealigned and allow for insertion of forklift tines, pallet jacks or handjacks for handling the pallets. The straps 34 are relatively thin,typically having a height on the order of ½″, so that a pallet jack maybe rolled over the top of the straps and inserted in the cores 36. Thestraps also provide structural support to the runners.

The center leg supports 26, 28, 30 are spaced between the sides of thepallet so as not to block insertion of forklift tines, pallet jacks orhand jacks in the cores 36 of the runners 22, 24. The center legsupports are also positioned about midway between the runners to createchannels 38 extending between the sides of the pallet for insertion offorklift tines, pallet jacks or hand jacks. This allows fork lifts orpallet jacks to lift the pallet 10 from all four sides.

As best shown in FIG. 9, the bottoms of the straps 34 include recessesthat nest with features on the upper support surface of an adjacentpallet when two or more pallets are stacked as described in more detailbelow. Specifically, the bottom of each strap 34 has tworectangular-shaped recesses 40 positioned on the ends of the strap and aT-shaped recess 42 positioned near the midpoint of the strap. Similarly,the bottom of each center leg support 26, 28, 30 includes arectangular-shaped recess 44. In one embodiment, the recesses 40, 42, 44are approximately 4½″ deep.

An embodiment of the pallet stacking structure will now be described inmore detail. The pallet stacking structure is formed in the uppersurface 18 of the pallet deck 14 and facilitates stacking of multiplepallets when they are not in use. An embodiment of the pallet stackingstructure includes a plurality of recessed regions, collectivelyreferred to herein as “first recessed regions”, formed in the uppersupport surface of the pallet deck for receiving the support members 16of a second pallet stacked on top of the first pallet. The firstrecessed regions “lock” adjacently stacked pallets together and preventthem from sliding and shifting laterally relative to one another.

Embodiments of the first recessed regions are shown in FIG. 8 andinclude a pair of generally rectangular-shaped recesses 46, 48 onopposite ends of the pallet deck 14 that are sized and shaped to receiveand nest with the bottoms of the runners 22, 24 of an adjacently stackedpallet. In one embodiment, the recesses 46, 48 are approximately 3/16″deep as measured from the deck's central planar surface 20. Tworectangular-shaped projections 50 and a T-shaped projection 52 extendupwardly from the floor of each recess 46, 48 for nesting within the tworectangular-shaped recesses 40 and the T-shaped recess 42 on the runners22, 24 of an adjacently stacked pallet stacked. In one embodiment, theprojections 50, 52 extends approximately 3/16″ upwardly from the floorof each recess 46, 48 so that the projections 50, 52 are flush with andoccupy the same plane as the deck's central planar surface 20.

The first recessed regions may also include three recesses 54, 56, 58spaced along a centerline of the central surface 20 between the sides ofthe pallet deck. These recesses 54, 56, 58 are sized and shaped toreceive and nest with the bottoms of the center leg supports 26, 28, 30of an adjacently stacked pallet. As with the recesses, 46, 48 therecesses 54, 56, 58 are approximately 3/16″ deep as measured from thedeck's central planar surface 20. A rectangular-shaped projection 60extends upwardly from the floor of each of the end recesses 54, 58 fornesting within one of the rectangular-shaped recesses 44 on the bottomsof the center leg supports 26, 30. In one embodiment, the projections 60extend approximately 3/16″ upwardly from the floor of each recess 54, 58so that the projections are flush with and occupy the same plane as thedeck's central planar surface 20. This maximizes the level surface areaon the pallet while minimizing the areas of the recesses to limit thesize of openings in which objects may fall.

The above-described pallet stacking structure allows multiple pallets tobe stacked when not in use as shown in FIGS. 10 and 11. When stacked,the support members of an upper pallet nest within the first recessedregions of an adjacent lower pallet to align the pallets on top of oneanother and to prevent lateral shifting of the pallets relative to oneanother.

Embodiments of the tray retaining and stacking structure will now bedescribed in more detail, primarily with reference to FIGS. 1-4, 7 and8. The tray retaining and stacking structure is formed in the uppersurface of the pallet deck 14 and supports and retains a stack of trayson the pallet and facilitates the proper transfer of forces exerted bythe weight of the trays as described below.

Exemplary trays 12 that may be supported on the pallet are shown inFIGS. 5 and 6. The trays are conventional and may each include an uppersupport surface 62 with a circumscribing outer lip or wall 64 and anumber of legs 66 that depend from the support surface to support thetray on a pallet or other surface. The upper support surface 62 mayinclude dividers 68 for creating a number of smaller compartments anddrainage holes 70. The trays may be of any shape and size, and in oneembodiment, are approximately 23 ¼″ long, 18″ wide, and 4″ tall suchthat four trays may be supported. The tray legs 66 may be of any shapeand size, and in one embodiment, extend approximately 0.66″ below thebottom of the support surface 62. As shown in the drawing figures, thetray legs may be configured to nest on top of the circumscribing wall 64of an adjacent tray so that the trays may be stacked on top of oneanother.

An embodiment of the tray retaining and stacking structure includes aplurality of recessed regions, collectively referred to herein as“second recessed regions”, formed in the upper support surface of thepallet for receiving the legs of a tray supported on the pallet. As bestshown in FIGS. 4 and 8, the second recessed regions may include acircular-shaped recess 72; four semi-circular shaped recesses 74, 76,78, 80; and four quarter circular shaped recesses 82, 84, 86, 88. Therecesses may be formed in other shapes such as triangular shapes. Therecess 72 is formed near a center point of the upper support surface,and as best shown in FIGS. 4 and 7, is sized and configured forsimultaneously receiving the bottom of one leg 66 from four adjacenttrays supported on the pallet. The recesses 74,76, 78, 80 are eachformed near a midpoint of one side or end of the top of the pallet deck,and are each sized and configured for simultaneously receiving thebottom of one leg from two adjacent trays on the pallet. The recesses82, 84, 86, 88 are each positioned near a corner of the top of thepallet deck, and are each sized and configured for receiving the bottomof one leg from one of the trays on the pallet.

In one embodiment, the above-described circular, semi-circular, andquarter circle recesses 72-88 each have a radius of 2 13/16″ and a depthof 0.60″ as measured from the central planar surface 20 of the palletdeck.

Importantly, the tray retaining and stacking structure is formed withinthe outer boundaries of the pallet stacking structure. Specifically, therecess 72 of the tray retaining and stacking structure is formed withinthe boundaries of the recess 56 of the pallet stacking structure; therecess 74 of the tray retaining and stacking structure is formed withinthe boundaries of the recess 54 of the pallet stacking structure; therecesses 76, 84, 86 of the tray retaining and stacking structure areformed within the boundaries of the recess 48 of the pallet stackingstructure; the recess 78 of the tray retaining and stacking structure isformed within the boundaries of the recess 58 of the pallet stackingstructure; and the recesses 80, 82, 88 of the tray retaining andstacking structure are formed within the boundaries of the recess 46 ofthe pallet stacking structure.

Also, the recesses of the second recessed regions are deeper than therecesses of the first recessed regions as measured from the centralsurface 20. The relative positioning and depths of the recesses of thetray retaining and stacking structure versus the recesses of the palletstacking structure prevents the pallet stacking structure frominterfering with the proper operation of the tray retaining and stackingstructure. Specifically, when four trays are supported and centered onthe pallet 10 in a single layer as shown in FIGS. 4 and 7, the tray legsalign with the second recessed regions 72-88 of the tray retaining andstacking structure rather than the first recessed regions 46, 48, 54,56, 58 of the pallet stacking structure so that the pallet stackingstructure doesn't interfere with the operation of the tray retaining andstacking structure.

The tray retaining and stacking structure is also designed andconfigured to more effectively direct and transfer the loads from thestacked trays to the pallet deck 14. As best depicted in FIGS. 2 and 3,the depths of the recesses 72-88 are slightly less than a length of thetray legs 66. This allows the bottoms of the tray legs to touch thefloors of the second recessed regions and elevate the upper supportsurface of the tray slightly above the pallet, thus transferring forcesrelated to the weight of the tray, and the parts held in the tray,downwardly through the tray legs and to the pallet rather than throughthe upper support surfaces of the tray. When multiple trays are stackedon top of one another, the weight of the trays is channeled linearlydownwardly through all the tray legs and to the upper surface of thepallet. This is beneficial because the tray legs are typically thickerand stronger than the upper support surfaces of the tray.

In summary, above-described tray retaining and stacking structureprevents the trays 12 from shifting laterally relative to the pallet.The tray retaining and stacking structure also directs forces from thecumulative weight of multiple stacked trays downwardly thought thetrays' legs 66 and on to the pallet deck 14 so that the trays aren'tdamaged as described below.

Although the invention has been described with reference to thepreferred embodiment illustrated in the attached drawing figures, it isnoted that equivalents may be employed and substitutions made hereinwithout departing from the scope of the invention as recited in theclaims. For example, the pallets, recessed areas, projections, and otherfeatures of the present invention may be formed of shapes and sizes andof materials not specifically disclosed herein without departing fromthe scope of the invention.

Having thus described the preferred embodiment of the invention, what isclaimed as new and desired to be protected by Letters Patent includesthe following:

1. A pallet for supporting a tray including a support surface and legshaving a length, the pallet comprising: a deck having an upper supportsurface including an upper portion; a plurality of support membersdepending from the deck; and tray retaining and stacking structure forretaining the tray when supported on the pallet, the tray retaining andstacking structure including a plurality of tray stacking recessedregions formed in the upper support surface of the deck for receivingthe tray legs when the tray is supported on the deck of the pallet, eachtray stacking recessed region having a floor positioned below the upperportion of the upper support surface of the deck, the tray stackingrecessed regions having a depth that is less than the length of the traylegs such that the floors support weight of the tray through the traylegs and the upper portion of the upper support surface of the deck doesnot touch the support surface of the tray when the tray legs touch thefloors.
 2. The pallet as set forth in claim 1, further comprising palletstacking structure for facilitating stacking of a second pallet on thepallet, the pallet stacking structure including a plurality of palletstacking recessed regions formed in the upper support surface of thedeck for receiving support members of the second pallet when the secondpallet is stacked on the deck of the pallet.
 3. The pallet as set forthin claim 2, wherein the tray stacking recessed regions of the trayretaining and stacking structure are formed within boundaries of thepallet stacking recessed regions of the pallet stacking structure suchthat the tray stacking recessed regions do not extend beyond theboundaries of the pallet stacking recessed regions, the tray stackingrecessed regions being deeper than the pallet stacking recessed regions.4. The pallet as set forth in claim 2, wherein the tray stackingrecessed regions are approximately 0.6″ deep.
 5. The pallet as set forthin claim 1, wherein the pallet stacking recessed regions areapproximately 3/16″ deep.
 6. The pallet as set forth in claim 1, whereinthe tray stacking recessed regions includes multiple recesses that arecircular, semi-circular, or quarter-circular in shape.
 7. The pallet asset forth in claim 1, wherein the plurality of tray stacking recessedregions of the tray retaining and stacking structure comprises: acircular-shaped recess near a center point of the upper support surfaceof the deck; four semi-circular shaped recesses, each positioned near amidpoint of a side of the upper support surface of the deck; and fourquarter-circular shaped recesses, each positioned near a corner of theupper support surface of the deck.
 8. The pallet as set forth in claim1, wherein the pallet is formed of rotationally molded syntheticmaterials.
 9. The pallet as set forth in claim 1, wherein the trayretaining and stacking structure permits multiple trays to be stacked onthe pallet and directs forces related to the weight of the trays, andparts held in the trays, downwardly through the tray legs and to thetray stacking recessed regions.
 10. A pallet for supporting a trayincluding a support surface and legs depending from the support surface,the pallet comprising: a deck having an upper support surface includingan upper portion; a plurality of support members depending from thedeck; and tray retaining and stacking structure for retaining the traywhen supported on the pallet, the tray retaining and stacking structureincluding a plurality of tray stacking recessed regions formed in theupper support surface of the deck for receiving the tray legs when thetray is supported on the deck of the pallet, each tray stacking recessedregion having a floor positioned below the upper portion of the uppersupport surface of the deck, the tray stacking recessed regions having adepth of approximately 0.6″ such that the floors support weight of thetray through the tray legs and the upper portion of the upper supportsurface of the deck does not touch the support surface of the tray whenthe tray legs touch the floors.
 11. The pallet as set forth in claim 10,further comprising pallet stacking structure for retaining a secondpallet stacked on the pallet, the pallet stacking structure including aplurality of pallet stacking recessed regions formed in the uppersupport surface of the deck for receiving support members of the secondpallet when the second pallet is stacked on the pallet deck.
 12. Thepallet as set forth in claim 11, wherein the tray stacking recessedregions of the tray retaining and stacking structure are formed withinboundaries of the pallet stacking recessed regions of the palletstacking structure such that the tray stacking recessed regions do notextend beyond the boundaries of the pallet stacking recessed regions,the tray stacking recessed regions being deeper than the pallet stackingrecessed regions.
 13. The pallet as set forth in claim 11, wherein thepallet stacking recessed regions are approximately 3/16″ deep.
 14. Thepallet as set forth in claim 10 wherein the tray stacking recessedregions include a plurality of recesses that are circular,semi-circular, or quarter-circular in shape.
 15. The pallet as set forthin claim 14, wherein the tray stacking recessed regions each have aradius of approximately 2- 13/16″ inches.
 16. The pallet as set forth inclaim 10, wherein the plurality of tray stacking recessed regions of thetray retaining and stacking structure comprises: a circular-shapedrecess near a center point of the upper support surface of the deck;four semi-circular shaped recesses, each positioned near a midpoint of aside of the upper support surface of the deck; and four quarter-circularshaped recesses, each positioned near a corner of the upper supportsurface of the deck.
 17. The pallet as set forth in claim 10, whereinthe pallet is formed of rotationally molded synthetic materials.
 18. Thepallet as set forth in claim 10, wherein the tray retaining and stackingstructure permits multiple trays to be stacked on the pallet and directsforces related to the weight of the trays, and parts held in the trays,downwardly through the tray legs and to the tray stacking recessedregions.
 19. A pallet for supporting a plurality of trays each includinga support surface and legs having a length, the pallet comprising: adeck having an upper support surface including an upper portion; aplurality of support members extending below the deck; and trayretaining and stacking structure for retaining the trays when supportedon the pallet, the tray retaining and stacking structure including aplurality of tray stacking recessed regions including a circular-shapedrecess near a center point of the upper support surface of the deck forreceiving legs of one or more of the trays, four semi-circular shapedrecesses, each positioned near a midpoint of a side of the upper supportsurface of the deck for receiving legs of up to two of the trays, andfour quarter-circular shaped recesses, each positioned near a corner ofthe upper support surface of the deck for receiving a leg of one of thetrays, the tray stacking recessed regions being formed in the uppersupport surface of the deck for receiving the tray legs when the traysare supported on the deck of the pallet, each tray stacking recessedregion having a floor positioned below the upper portion of the uppersupport surface of the deck, the tray stacking recessed regions having adepth of approximately 0.6″ such that the floors support weight of thetrays through the tray legs and the upper portion of the upper supportsurface of the deck does not touch the support surfaces of the trayswhen the tray legs touch the floors.
 20. The pallet as set forth inclaim 19, wherein the pallet is configured to directly support as few asone tray and up to four trays simultaneously on the deck.